Rats!

I made the mistake of watching Religion & Ethics Newsweekly over the weekend. I've been avoiding the news. I do know what's going on with the economy but I don't want to know. You know? I'm grateful that I have job I hate. That's as much economic reality as I want to face.

Instead, I have been happily focused on my need for an iPhone. I wasn't planning on rushing into the purchase either. Nope. I was going to wait for my tax refund and spend only a small part of it on my new technological marvel. Since I didn't have the little wonder yet, on Sunday afternoon I decided to watch TV and turned on PBS. Dummy. Why couldn't I have watched an infomercial for the Total Gym instead?

The segment on food banks broke my heart. It reminded me that I have an obligation to others - something that I had been trying hard to forget. So I'm putting the iPhone on hold. I figure the service would cost about $25 more a month than my current cell phone. For the next six months, I'm going to donate that money to local charities including Gleaners Food Bank, the Michigan Humane Society, Detroit Institute of Arts, and Detroit Public TV. This may not be as cool as an iPhone but I'll bet that in the long run I'll be happier about my spending.